LACP.org
..
Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch
LA Police Protective League

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.
 

Los Angeles
Police Protective League
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
the union that represents the
rank and file LAPD officers

  Daily Local & Regional NewsWatch

Daily News Digest
from LA Police Protective League

June 22, 2017
 

Law Enforcement News

An LAPD officer needs a bone marrow transplant. His ethnicity limits his chances of getting one
Matthew Medina's doctors diagnosed him with a rare blood disease a few months ago and told him he would probably die without a bone marrow transplant. With that prognosis came another: The 40-year-old Los Angeles police officer had a less than 50% chance of finding a donor because he is not white. Most successful matches for bone marrow transplants involve a donor and patient of the same ethnicity. But the majority of the 25 million registered donors nationwide are white, and Medina is Filipino. So far, no match has been found.
Los Angeles Times

Officer Injured In Police Chase That Ends In Bizarre Standoff In Van Nuy
A Los Angeles Police Department officer was struck and injured by a suspect's car early Thursday morning during a chase that ended with a bizarre standoff in Van Nuys, authorities said. About 2:30 a.m., officers ran the license plate of a vehicle that turned out to have been stolen, according to the LAPD. When they attempted to conduct a traffic stop, the driver sped away and an erratic pursuit ensued. "At one point during the pursuit, the female driver struck one of our police vehicles and injured one of our officers," who was pinned by the suspect's sedan, said Sgt. Matthew Marsh, an LAPD spokesman. The officer was treated at a hospital and released. At the end of the chase, the driver was seen casually smoking a cigarette and leaning out of car's sunroof as at least six police officers approached with guns drawn. She was physically pulled from the vehicle and taken into custody. Her name was not immediately released.
ABC 7
238 arrested in sweep of suspected child sex predators
A monk from Riverside and an Australian man looking to buy a 6-year-old boy were among 238 people arrested during a two-month operation targeting child predators in Southern California, officials said Monday. Conducted by the Los Angeles Regional Internet Crimes against Children task force,  “Operation Broken Heart III”  targeted offenders wanted for the sexual exploitation of children, child prostitution, sex tourism and possessing and distributing child pornography, said Deputy Chief Matt Blake of the Los Angeles Police Department.  Among those arrested during sweeps in April and May were entertainers, community leaders, white-collar professionals and clergy members, said John Reynolds, acting special agent in charge for U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
Los Angeles Times

LAPD Can't Hold Impounded Cars Without Good Reason, Appeals Court Rules
Los Angeles police may not hold impounded cars for 30 days without justification, a federal appeals court decided Wednesday. In a unanimous decision, a three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals revived a class-action lawsuit against the police for holding vehicles for 30 days. The court said impounding a vehicle must be justified under the 4th Amendment, which bars unreasonable searches and seizures. “A seizure is justified under the Fourth Amendment only to the extent that the government's justification holds force,” Judge Alex Kozinski wrote for the panel. “Thereafter, the government must cease the seizure or secure a new justification.”
KTLA 5

Suspected Carjacker Who Was Fatally Shot By South Gate Police Had A Replica Firearm, Authorities Say
A suspected carjacker who was fatally shot Tuesday by South Gate police was armed with a replica firearm, according to authorities. The man, identified by coroner's officials as 36-year-old David Pacas, had carjacked a woman at gunpoint about 7 a.m. in West Los Angeles, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. About 45 minutes later, South Gate officers who had been alerted to the stolen Honda Pilot tried to stop the vehicle. But Pacas continued driving and led officers on a pursuit through city streets, the Sheriff's Department said in a statement. Pacas eventually crashed into another vehicle at the intersection of California Avenue and Santa Ana Street, causing that vehicle to collide with a third car. Pacas then struck three more parked vehicles, authorities said. Pacas exited the Honda and ran into an apartment complex in the 3400 block of Santa Ana Street, deputies said. According to the Sheriff's Department, Pacas was carrying “a dark colored firearm” as he ran away from officers. 
Los Angeles Times

Sophisticated Bank Burglary Crew Stole Millions Of Dollars, Decades Of Heists Finally End
The fifth and final member of an Inland Empire bank burglary crew that stole millions of dollars by using power tools to cut though building roofs to gain access to cement bank vaults was sentenced Wednesday in Los Angeles to about four years behind bars. Lucian Gabriel Isaia of Beaumont, 36, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer to pay a share of $12 million in restitution and serve three years of supervised release following his 51-month federal prison sentence. The five men linked to the crimes were arrested in April 2013, following a year-long investigation that involved a surveillance operation by Los Angeles County sheriff's deputies, who were on hand when the suspects tried to rob a Citibank branch in Diamond Bar. Recovered evidence included a portion of the bank's roof, roofing material, two-way radios, tools, gloves and ski masks. The leader of the crew, Alceu Johnny Andreis of Banning, was sentenced in March to 20 years behind bars after a jury convicted him of bank burglary charges. 
MyNewsLA.com

Man With Cache Of Powerful Weapons Arrested At Pasadena Transit Station
Sheriff's deputies approached a man who was urinating on a planter Wednesday at a Pasadena transit station and made an alarming discovery. In his duffel bag, the deputies found a cache of weapons, including a loaded AR-15 semiautomatic rifle, a handgun, rope, a machete, two loaded 30-round magazines, several rounds of loose ammunition and a notebook with unidentified writings, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department. The handgun's markings indicated it was restricted for those in law enforcement or government, officials said. The deputies quickly arrested Christopher Harrison Goodine, 28, at the Sierra Madre Villa Gold Line station shortly after 9 a.m. Goodine was taken to county lockup, where he's being held on $10,000 bail, according to jail records. Investigators were still looking into Goodine and his plans. At a news conference Wednesday afternoon, Sheriff Jim McDonnell said there was no evidence of a link to terrorism, and he credited deputies with averting catastrophic violence.
Los Angeles Times
Inmate Who Killed La. Deputy As A Teen Now Eligible For Parole
A 71-year-old prisoner who was 17 when he killed a sheriff's deputy learned Wednesday that he will get a chance at parole, 54 years after the killing and a year after winning his appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court. Calling Henry Montgomery a "model prisoner" who had been rehabilitated behind bars, District Judge Richard D. Anderson resentenced Montgomery to life with the possibility of parole. Anderson changed Montgomery's life-without-parole sentence after the nation's high court ruled in Montgomery's favor in January 2016. The high court said its prior ruling against automatic juvenile no-parole sentences should be applied retroactively. "The court understands the defendant's (prior) sentence was fair, however ... the court has to follow the current law," Anderson said. "He does not appear to be someone who the Supreme Court would classify as 'irreparably corrupt.' ... He's been a mentor, he's helped others and, from all indications, he does appear to be rehabilitated." 
Associated Press

Top cops in Seattle, LA and 3 chiefs from Dallas are finalists for 'one of the hardest jobs in America'
Dallas' next police chief will be chosen from eight finalists who include chiefs from Seattle and Los Angeles and three high-ranking members of Dallas Police Department, officials announced Wednesday. The position has been vacant since October, when Chief David Brown retired at the height of his fame for shepherding the department through the July 7 ambush and its aftermath. Morale has eroded over the years, many officers are still reeling from last summer's deadly ambush, and the new chief will have to be a good communicator with officers and navigate City Hall effectively. External candidates will have the added difficulty of a steep learning curve. The list of candidates was narrowed down to Dallas Deputy Chiefs Malik Aziz and Rick Watson, Dallas Assistant Chief Gary Tittle, Seattle Deputy Chief Carmen Best, Grand Prairie Police Chief Steven Dye, Detroit Deputy Chief U. Renee Hall, Los Angeles First Assistant Chief Michel Moore and Assistant Chief Luther Reynolds of Montgomery County, Md.
Dallas Morning News

FBI Says Gunman Acted Alone In Shooting That Wounded House Majority Whip; Terrorism Not Involved
The  Federal  Bureau of Investigation says a gunman who shot and wounded a Republican lawmaker and several others on a northern Virginia  baseball  field acted alone. At a  news  conference on Wednesday, Tim Slater, the special agent in charge of the Washington FBI office, said that the shooter, 66-year-old James T. Hodgkinson, had no ties to terrorism.  The shooting happened last Wednesday at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria.  House majority whip Steve Scalise was seriously wounded in the shooting and is still recovering after undergoing several surgeries. He remains hospitalized at this time. Scalise and other congressional Republicans were practicing for their annual charity baseball game against Democrats last Wednesday at the Eugene Simpson Stadium Park in Alexandria when Hodgkinson arrived and started shooting.  U.S. Capitol Police and other officers returned fire and killed Hodgkinson, who was later identified as an unemployed home inspector who held a hostile attitude toward President Donald Trump and other Republicans.
FOX 11

UK terror: 4 attacks, 5 plots thwarted since March
British authorities on Thursday said the country was experiencing "a new phase of global terrorism" as they revealed that security services had thwarted five terrorist attacks since the car-and-knife assault on Westminster Bridge and outside Parliament in March. The new figures, unveiled by Home Secretary Amber Rudd during an address to the House of Commons, come as Britain was confronted with four terrorist attacks in the last three months that killed 36 people and hospitalized more than 150. Between June 2013 and the Westminster attack, 13 plots were foiled.
USA Today

Public Safety News

Woodland Hills Mansion Catches Fire After Massive Gas Explosion: LAF
Crews battled a dangerous blaze Monday evening at a Woodland Hills mansion that went up in flames after a massive gas explosion. The fire was reported about 7:40 p.m. at a two-story mansion located at 4961 Marmol Drive, the Los Angeles Fire Department said in a news release. Crews on scene reported heavy fire and at least one gas explosion. Responding firefighters attacked the fire from the outside of the mansion as the structured was "compromised." LAFD officials told KTLA a construction crew working in the area accidentally ruptured a gas line and immediately called the gas company. Prior to the explosion gas company officials went to the home and told the residents to get out. Fire officials said the scene was very dangerous as multiple gas lines were ruptured. "It is our safety concern to let that gas fire burn until we can get a controlled shut off,"  Assistant Fire Chief Patrick Butler told KTLA. 
KTLA 5

Local Government News

DWP contract could spark costly demands from other city unions
Four years ago, Los Angeles' elected officials wrested major financial concessions from the Department of Water and Power's biggest and most powerful employee union, persuading those workers to go three years without raises. City budget officials billed the agreement as a road map for negotiations with its other employee groups. Soon afterward, several other unions agreed to postpone pay increases for one or more years. Now a new salary package, backed by Mayor Eric Garcetti and heading to the City Council next week, would give six raises in five years to thousands of DWP workers. That could spur other unions to seek a similar deal, placing new burdens on a city budget already under significant stress. Negotiations are set to start later this year with the coalition and the Los Angeles Police Protective League, which represents rank-and-file officers, according to city budget analysts. Craig Lally, the union's president, raised issues about recruitment and retention that are similar to those being discussed at the DWP. Southern California law enforcement agencies are luring away LAPD officers with higher salaries, Lally said.  "We must be competitive with other law enforcement agencies to ensure we are able to recruit and retain police officers to try and keep our neighborhoods safe," he said.
Los Angeles Times


LA Residents Living In ‘Ghost Ship-Like' Warehouses Must Move, City Funding Relocation Assistance
The Los Angeles City Council Wednesday approved nearly $383,000 in emergency relocation assistance for residents ordered to vacate two warehouses that the fire department has determined must be closed. Both of the warehouses are owned by Morad “Ben” Neman, who was charged with several misdemeanors last December by City Attorney Mike Feuer over the conditions at one of the warehouses, which is located at 931 E. Pico Blvd. The other is at 1518 Paloma St. Feuer, who alleged the Pico building contains unlawfully constructed residences without smoke alarms and accessible fire escapes, filed the case in the wake of a Dec. 2 fire that killed 36 people in an Oakland warehouse called the Ghost Ship, where many artists lived and worked. Some of the residents of the Los Angeles warehouses appeared before a City Council committee on June 7 and said Neman was refusing to pay relocation assistance. 
MyNewsLA.com

Ballot Measure To Expand L.A. County Board Of Supervisors Advances
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors would be expanded from five to seven members and an elected chief executive post would be created under a measure recommended Wednesday by a state Senate panel despite opposition from the county. Two members of the county's 2015-16 civil grand jury testified that the group felt the current government is inadequate for a county of more than 10 million residents. They said that if the county was a state, it would be the eighth-largest state in the country based on population. “The board is too small to adequately serve the diverse needs of county residents,” grand jury member Molly Milligan told the Senate Governance and Finance Committee, before its 5-1 vote to recommend Senate Constitutional Amendment 12. The proposed statewide ballot measure was introduced by Sen. Tony Mendoza (D-Artesia).
Los Angeles Times

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

About the LAPPL Formed in 1923, the Los Angeles Police Protective League (LAPPL) represents the more than 9,900 dedicated and professional sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department. The LAPPL serves to advance the interests of LAPD officers through legislative and legal advocacy, political action and education. The LAPPL can be found on the Web at:

www.LAPD.com


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~